4 arrested in bay area mortgage scam

TAMPA -- State law enforcement officials charged four people today in a multimillion dollar mortgage fraud scheme that stretched through Hillsborough, Pinellas and Polk counties.

Orson Benn, Constance Golder, David Tuggle, Jr., and Eric Steinhauser have been arrested and face prosecution from the Attorney General's Office of Statewide Prosecution.

Benn was the former vice president of Argent Mortgage Company and Golder worked as an account executive, according to Attorney General Bill McCollum's office. Tuggle and Steinhauser, as the mortgage brokers for Tampa-based Sunstate Mortgage Company, submitted more than 300 fraudulent mortgage loans applications to Argent that Benn would approve, McCollum's office said.

Tuggle and Steinhauser paid Benn more than $100,000 to approve the loans. Golder helped facilitate the process by serving as liaison between Argent and Sunstate Mortgage, the attorney general said.

"Mortgage fraud threatens the very essence of the American dream -- the goal of home ownership," McCollum said in a statement. "Unfortunately, Florida ranks first in the nation for the number of mortgage foreclosures, making our citizens who are struggling to protect their homes even more susceptible to fraud, and we must continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those whose criminal behavior perpetuates these illegal actions."

Of the 300 loan applications, state investigators say 280 were funded and collectively valued at more than $34-million. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Hillsborough County Consumer Protection Agency, Tampa Police Department and Pinellas County Department of Justice participated in the investigation.

The attorney general's office said the four carried out the scheme for more than two years. Investigators described Argent as "one of the nation's largest subprime lenders."

This is the second mortgage fraud case involving Benn, and investigators believe there are other mortgage brokerage companies in Florida with whom he organized a similar scheme.

Benn was previously charged in a case that is currently pending in Polk County Circuit Court. After that initial investigation into Benn's actions, officials began looking at additional targets involved in fraud along with Benn, who has been charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, mortgage fraud and grand theft. If convicted, he faces up to 95 years in prison.

Golder, Tuggle and Steinhauser have been charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering. They each face up to 30 years in prison.

-Kevin Graham, Times staff writer